~Sanjay Tumati
For some time, I was sceptical about the value of blogs and the value of photos and posting on Blogs as social media such as WhatsApp. I did not think that they actually inspired anyone and I never bothered much about photos and blogs. To be sure, I maintained a journal for myself from time to time and found it useful, but never shared these with others. Usually it was because I thought others would not be interested but sometimes I am not comfortable sharing.
At C3SLD we organize a half day Vipassana session for about 4 hours at our Udavi campus every Sunday. We would receive around 6-7 meditators some of whom meditate for only part of the four hours. And this is largely the case week after week for months.
Last week, Sanjeev suggested taking a group photo and posting it on the group to motivate others to attend. I was sceptical anything would change. However, we went ahead and did it anyway à Took a group photo and posted it on the group. The very next week, the turnout doubled to 15 to the extent that we ran out of space for men. This was happening right before my eyes. These are real world results. I can’t argue with results and what my eyes see.
Now I am more optimistic about the impact of blogs and sharing photos and reflections. I took photos with more enthusiasm and also posted them on the group with some comments to motivate others to join us. And I have resolved also to post blogs more often. Sanjeev says that people do read our blogs for pointers and it has indeed inspired others to try something new. It was not that I did not believe Sanjeev, just that I did not pay it too much heed based on my back ground conversations and pre conceived notions. However, this experience has definitely been an eye-opener. I may still not post out of laziness, but not because I feel it is ineffective.